SNL Retro: Michael Palin/Eugene Record (4/8/78)

by Brendan Wahl

(Season 3, Episode 16)

I’ve been away for a real long time. Sorry gang! Well I decided to do a little bonus review before I tackle Anna Faris/Drake tomorrow. I know I haven’t been keeping up with my Season 3 reviews so well, so here’s another one featuring Monty Pythoner Michael Palin taking the reigns of host. Only five more shows left in this season!

The Show:

“Grandma Walton Tries To Tie Her Shoelace” will not be seen tonight.

1. Cold Opening: The Oscars (3:57)

After Vanessa Redgrave’s (Curtin) stunning speech in which she condemns the Jewish Defense League, several other people are brought on-stage to commend her like Yasser Arafat (Belushi), Anwar Sadat (Morris), and finally President Jimmy Carter (Aykroyd).

- Hilarious cold opening and some brilliant political satire while at the same time, it did an excellent job of attacking the Oscars and the speeches made by some of the far-left celebrities that use it as a plateau for their political views.
- Jane was terrific here with a very understated performance and I particularly liked her beginning the speech by saying “there are so many people to condemn.”
- There were more funny moments here from Belushi-as-Yasser and even Garrett got a few laughs as Anwar Sadat though I have to agree with Harry Shearer that it’s a rather weak impression overall. Aykroyd as President Carter here was the absolute highlight though, especially the best line of the night that he spouts: “I’m sick and tired of people using the Oscars as a platform to recognize outstanding achievement in the motion picture arts.”
Rating: ****

2. Monologue (5:03)

Michael’s manager Sid Biggs (Palin) comes out instead and tries to stall for time while our host gets ready in the backstage area. He talks about how wonderful of a client Michael is and then demonstrates a trick that one of his other clients does: stuffing cats into his pants after putting some seafood salad down there as well.

- One of the rare occasions where the host did a character for the monologue instead of being themselves. One can’t be that surprised that Palin would do something like this though; he was very funny and his timing was impeccable.
- PETA would have a field day with the “cats” trick that he does here but it was very funny because it was so bizarre and out there. Apparently, one of the cats didn’t think it was so nice and they took a dump in his pants.
Rating: **** 1/2

3. Little Chocolate Donuts (:57)
- Repeat from Buck Henry/Leon Redbone (11/19/77).
Rating: *****

4. IRS Confession (4:47)

A priest (Palin) speaks to an IRS agent (Aykroyd) in the confession booth and gets interrogated about his tax returns while trying to help another man (Morris) with his tax issues.

- Decent sketch with funny performances from both Dan and Michael, who was more or less playing the straight man here but did a great job of it.
- Bill Murray’s appearance was very funny in a dry, Murray-esque way.
- The highlight of the sketch is the appearance of John Belushi as Lowell Brock from those H&L Brock sketches in Year 1.
Rating: ***

5. The Seagull (5:56)

Michael Palin himself presents a challenge for himself: he will attempt to perform a scene from Chekov’s The Seagull all the while being trapped in a straitjacket and locked in a trunk. Meanwhile, the other actors (Curtin and Murray) proceed like normal while Michael attempts to get out in time for his cue.

- This was a very strange high-concept sketch but it works really well here due to the great sense of humour of the host and the theatrical acting from Bill and Jane.
- Of course the best part was Michael attermpting to break out of the trunk all the while the actors are trying to perform a serious scene from a well-known play. I have no idea how they kept their composure.
- The character break at the end coupled with Michael’s freakout about not breaking the record was a good capper and I loved how it lead into a brief reference to The Lumberjack Song.
Rating: *** 1/2

6. Eugene Record sings “Have You Seen Her?” (3:48)

- One of those talk-sing types of tunes but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. I can imagine Samuel L. Jackson doing this type of act for some reason.
- Loved the background with the giant jukebox.

7. UPDATE TEASER w/Jane Curtin (:06)

- Suzy Chapstick gains 200 pounds.

8. WEEKEND UPDATE w/Dan Aykroyd & Jane Curtin (7:48)
Guests: Lee Kim and John Belushi

Best Jokes: fig neutron; Billy Carter; suicide rate; John Wayne

- The Sirhan Wrap sponsor bit at the beginning was great.
- Akira Yoshimura makes an appearance here as Tung-Sun Park or at least that’s who says he is. He’s awkward mostly because Akira is not an actor but it’s an amusing segment nonetheless especially with Dan taking his bribe money and Jane dismissing him as being a fraud.
- Jane has a great ad-lib about the crowd’s non-response to one of her jokes (“How quickly they turn”)
- John Belushi delivers another one of his manic rants, this time on the closing down of Radio City Music Hall. It’s another great rant by John that escalates to an almost-violent plateau and of course, John goes wildly off-topic. Jane always plays off him so well in these bits too.
Rating: *** 1/2

9. Nerds Piano Lesson (6:42)

Lisa Loopner (Radner) awaits her teacher Mr. Brighton (Palin) to teach her the ways of the piano all while Todd (Murray) does everything in his power to annoy and distract her.

- Classic sketch. This is the first time the Nerds get their own proper sketch and they get to flesh out the characters a lot more. Bill Murray, in particular, really excels as Todd DiLaMuca (still named LaBounta at this time) and plays him in total Bill Murray mode with a healthy dose of smarmy class and playfulness.
- The chemistry between Bill and Gilda is really what elevates these sketches though and it would only get more and more focused. Watching this sketch, you can pretty much tell that the two of them were fairly close (they were dating at the time).
- Palin does real well here too as the straight-laced teacher and then ramps up the creep factor when he starts hitting on Gilda’s character. I also like how he responded when Gilda told him his fly was open.
- Let’s not leave out Jane as Gilda’s mother though. She’s always very committed to any character she plays.
Rating: *****

10. The Forgotten Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (8:55)

A coked-up Sherlock Holmes (Palin) has trouble staying focused on his various cases and instead lives his life as a paranoid detective who can become agitated at the slightest things.

- This was a hilarious sketch and had one of the strangest introductions. Palin starring as Orson Welles stumbling in a filmed introduction was quite good (especially with the off-screen voice constantly correcting him on his grammar).
- Palin walking around with the rolled-up dollar bill up his nose was a great sight gag coupled with the weird things he did like play violin and shoot at a target on the wall.
- Jane was very funny as the maid (“You should eat more and sleep more and do a little less cocaine”) and Aykroyd was quite good as well as the stuffy Dr. Watson, who is also concerned with Holmes’ consumption of the illicit drug.
- I especially liked the bit where Palin told Aykroyd some man’s life story simply by looking at him but then learning that it was simply a statue.
- Loved Bill Murray’s cockney accent.
Rating: **** 1/2

11. Party Arguments (4:10)

A young couple (Murray & Newman) argue about a party they’re planning to go to with the wife feeling as if the husband will make an ass of himself rather than talk to her.

- A nice, quiet Marilyn Suzanne Miller piece with some great dialogue and good acting from Bill and Laraine.
- I especially liked the story about Bill laying face-down in the street yelling “DISCO!” and then Bill responding by saying he was only kidding.
- By the way, I definitely sided with Bill’s character here. Just saying.
Rating: ****

12. Eugene Record sings “Trying To Get To You” (3:25)

- A tune that was quite a bit different than the first as it included all singing while not really relying on any of that talking that the first one had. Another fine performance.

13. The Mr. Bill Show: Mr. Bill Pays Taxes (2:02)

The usual stuff occurs with the devious Mr. Hands and Sluggo while Mr. Bill attempts to pay his taxes.

- Didn’t we just have one of these in the previous episode?
- Nevertheless, this was another decent installment and the abuse of Mr. Bill is usually pretty entertaining to watch. I particularly liked H&R Sluggo saying that his taxes literally cost him an arm and a leg.
Rating: *** 1/2

13. Danger Probe (3:21)

In this short-lived recurring sketch, host Dave Mable (Aykroyd) chronicles the story of an 18th century Belgian fop (Palin) and a Spanish blackamoor (Morris) being threatened by a bigoted former rapust (Al Franken) and a bigoted equipment operator (Belushi) who has been known to use martial arts.

- Following the theme of tonight’s episode, this was another absurd idea but it was made entertaining by the performances and Aykroyd made a great Dragnet-like host.
- Al Franken was really good here as a backwards southern racist but Belushi was terrific too with his almost-unintelligible dialogue. Palin and Morris, of course, don’t fit in at all and that is the reason why this sketch works so well.
- The ending where Mable and the authorities bust in was a good one too.
Rating: *** 1/2

14. Goodnights

- Palin shows the two cats to let the audience know that they’re perfectly fine.

OVERALL: Excellent show this week with a great performance from Michael Palin as the host. Not every single sketch was a classic (The Seagull was above-average and the IRS Confession segment was good) but everything worked here. There was not a single segment that I disliked but that’s pretty much par for the course when it comes to this season in general.

APPEARANCES:

HOST: MICHAEL PALIN – 6 segments (Monologue; IRS Confession; The Seagull; Nerds Piano Lesson; The Forgotten Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes [2 roles]; Danger Probe)

DAN AYKROYD – 5 segments (The Oscars; IRS Confession; Weekend Update; The Forgotten Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes; Danger Probe)
JOHN BELUSHI – 6 segments (The Oscars; Little Chocolate Donuts; IRS Confession; Weekend Update; The Forgotten Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes; Danger Probe)
JANE CURTIN – 6 segments (The Oscars; IRS Confession; The Seagull; Weekend Update; Nerds Piano Lesson; The Forgotten Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes)
GARRETT MORRIS – 3 segments (The Oscars; IRS Confession; Danger Probe)
BILL MURRAY – 6 segments (The Oscars; IRS Confession; The Seagull; Nerds Piano Lesson; The Forgotten Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes; Party Arguments)
LARAINE NEWMAN – 3 segments (The Oscars; The Seagull; Party Arguments)
GILDA RADNER – 3 segments (The Seagull; Nerds Piano Lesson; The Forgotten Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes)

TOM DAVIS – 2 segments (Little Chocolate Donuts; Danger Probe)
AL FRANKEN – 1 segment (Danger Probe)

EPISODE MVP: Dan Aykroyd

Saturday Night Live: Ben Stiller/Foster The People (10/8/11)

by Brendan Wahl

(Season 37, Episode 3)

Cold Opening: Mitt Romney Press Conference (5:05)

Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney (Sudeikis) takes questions from various fundraisers, who find him boring and keep getting to their main point: how can they get Chris Christie (Moynihan) to run? Chris himself shows up to whip the crowd into a frenzy and give Romney his support, but Mitt can still not contain their interest.

- After Sudeikis’ fun take on Mitt during the season premiere, I was hoping we’d get another appearance from him and this worked out to my liking.
- My favourite parts were Sudeikis resorting to his Mormon anger by using words like “oh heck it all to fudge!,” Nasim asking to push the deadline so the Republicans to find a viable candidate, and the whole bit with Moynihan as Chris Christie was a lot of fun.
- “What do you people like? Buttered bread?” “My voice sounds like a black comedian doing a white man voice.” Great lines from Suds.
- Kristen’s outburst was pretty funny as well.
Rating: *** 1/2

Monologue (3:29)

Stiller talks about being exhausted after fasting for Yom Kippur before a Jewish Willy Wonka (Samberg) whisks him away to a magical land of Jewish foods.

- Funny monologue, especially when Samberg announces that he is the Jewish Willy Wonka and Stiller replies, “So you’re Gene Wilder?”
- Paul Brittain and Bobby Moynihan had no lines but they were still pretty funny in the background as the foods.
- Best part was Stiller and Samberg complaining about the soup and then being excited that it was terrible.
Rating; ***

Lincoln Financial Group (1:10)

A man (Sudeikis) sees himself in the future in pretty good shape because he used Lincoln Financial to invest his money. Shortly thereafter, the future version of himself suggests they get it on.

- This was a pretty quick bit but I still enjoyed it quite a bit mostly due to Sudeikis’ dry performance(s).
Rating: *** 1/2

Fox & Friends (4:52)

The usual gang of idiots (Moynihan, Bayer, & Killam) discuss current news items and spew their uninformed drivel unto the world. They also interview Hank Williams Jr. (Sudeikis) along with his manager (Stiller) after Hank made an unflattering comparison between President Obama and a certain German leader from the 1940s.

- I loved this sketch the first time I saw it on Mirren/Foo Fighters and it was still very, very enjoyable. I love Taran and Vanessa, but Bobby is still my favourite performer in this sketch (“we imply it”).
- Vanessa’s line about anarchy being “no government while people play bongos” was hilarious. I don’t know why people are saying her brief slip-up messed up the whole joke.
- Fred’s brief role as the fact-checker was funny again.
- Suds was hilarious as Hank Williams Jr. and his manager played by Stiller was a decent addition to the sketch as well. Jason’s ridiculous things that he said were hilarious and his singing at the end sealed the proverbial deal. I loved how Taran said “apology accepted” at the end of it too.
- The crawl at the end was funny much like the first one.
Rating: **** 1/2

Lincoln Financial Group (1:03)

The second ad focuses on one man (Hader) finding his future self to be fat, poor, and suicidal. This time, his future self attempts to force himself on his past self.

- Another amusing ad, though not quite as good as the first. I did like Hader’s “fat voice” though.
Rating: ***

The Best of Both Worlds (6:05)

Hugh Jackman (Samberg) hosts a show in which actors who do two radically different types of film are invited. Mandy Patinkin (Stiller), a beleaguered Clint Eastwood (Hader), and Daniel Radcliffe (Hugh Jackman!) are all guests on the show and try to show their dual layers.

- Another sketch from Mirren/Foo Fighters. It’s another one that I enjoyed quite a bit though, especially the surprise cameo from Hugh Jackman at the end and the ensuing banter between him and Samberg.
-  Stiller was fine as Mandy Patinkin, but the highlight of the whole sketch was Bill’s crazy impression of Clint Eastwood with his pants exaggeratedly raised almost up to his chest. His singing of the song from Gran Torino had me in stitches, especially his long groan at the end of it.
- The killing of Moynihan as the assistant was the same as in the first sketch but I did like Hader muttering “git off my lawn!” before shooting him.
- Abby as Nancy Grace was a funny quick bit.
Rating: ****

Digital Short: V-Necks (2:02)

After shopping around, one man (Samberg) is jealous of another man’s (Stiller) ability to wear such a low-cut V-Neck and thus begins a game of one-upsmanship.

- Pretty funny digital short. It was better than last week’s Stomp piece and it had a funny performance from Stiller as well. I loved the look of his strange character.
- The best parts were Samberg and Stiller naming the different styles of V-Neck shirts with the helpful subtitles along with it.
- The ending with Stiller getting arrested was pretty funny.
Rating: *** 1/2

The bit here with Sudeikis-as-Hank Williams Jr. singing with the SNL Band was awesome and it’s been forever since we’ve had something cool and format-breaking like this on the show.

Foster The People sing “Pumped-Up Kicks” (3:45)

- A lot of people told me about this song but I have honestly never heard this one. It was a pretty enjoyable listen though and I liked the unique sound it had. Nice to have a band every once in a while that doesn’t sound like everyone else.
WEEKEND UPDATE with Seth Meyers (13:18)
Guests: Nan Washington and Stefon & Derek Zoolander

Best Jokes: Hermann Cain; Jose Reyes/Mets; Madonna/Superbowl; both pet costumes jokes

- I may be in the minority here but I though Kristen’s Nan Washington character was quite funny due to her very slow, dry delivery. It was definitely different from other characters she does and I really don’t get the Judy Grimes comparison people are making. Seth was clearly enjoying this as well.
- STEFON! It was so awesome to see him back and I loved his quick reference to the summer vacation he had with Seth (“how’s your back?”). Hader had many good lines here like usual and his club names are getting more and more insane. The addition of Ben Stiller as Derek Zoolander made the whole thing even funnier and I loved his “Derek Zoolander Foundation For Fat Kids Who Are Fat But Not Om A Cute Way Like That Fat Kid On Modern Family.”
Rating: ****

Halloween Party (7:08)

“Sexy” Shana (Wiig) is back again, this time seducing an upper-management type (Stiller) at a Halloween party with her usual disgusting quirks while a group of on-lookers (Elliott, Samberg, Thompson, Killam) are not impressed.

- This is the character’s fourth appearance and not the umpteenth like some reviewers are saying. Wiig always does a good job with this character but I will admit that despite her not having appeared a lot in the past, I hope this is one of her last appearances so she doesn’t get too repetitive.
- The best part was the fart joke at the end. I know that sounds lame but Stiller falling flat on his back was a hoot. I also liked Abby pointing out the obviously-fake spider by informing her that it’s wearing a hat. Oh, and Kristen’s insane screaming was good too.
- For some reason, Abby looked super cute in this sketch too. I guess she always does though.
- Where has Kenan been all night anyway?
Rating: *** 1/2

Lincoln Financial Group (:24)

The shortest of the three, this time one man (Stiller) finds a woman (Elliott) beside him, but then notices a female version of himself beside her.

- The fake-out with Abby was funny here and the fact that this just got right to the point was a hoot.
Rating: *** 1/2

Columbus Day Assblast (3:09)

DJ Super Soak (Sudeikis) and Lil Blaster (Pedrad) present another insane party with all kinds of random shit going on, including an appearance by Eckhart Tolle (Stiller) and MC George Castanza (Pharoah).

- I gotta give credit to Stooge for this observation, but this is the THIRD sketch to be repeated from the Helen Mirren episode. Unlike the others though, this one is REALLY starting to lose steam. Nothing will ever top the first one of these sketches.
- The random shit that they throw out there just isn’t as funny anymore but I did like the bit about giving Queen Isabella polyps and the different twist they put on the usual Ass Dan death scene.
- I kinda liked the Stiller segment.
Rating: ** 1/2

Bruce Springsteen: Just The Stories (1:57)

A compilation DVD featuring all of Springsteen’s (Stiller) little stories he tells before his songs is advertised with a special bonus of Little Stevie (Armisen) attempting a story of his own but just bombing.

- This was another sketch I wasn’t too fond of. It had nothing to do with Stiller and his mimicry of The Boss, but I just thought this could’ve been taken in a funnier direction.
- Armisen’s brief Little Stevie segment was amusing though.
Rating: **

Foster The People (feat. Kenny G) sing “Houdini” (3:57)

- Wow, how random was it for Kenny G to show up here? It took nothing away from my enjoyment of the song though as they did another good job here and it was a very entertaining performance.

Tinyballs (1:56)

A parody of Moneyball finds the coach (Killam) resorting to a shady gentleman (Stiller) to get their team into shape by way of using steroids and other male enhancement drugs.

- I enjoyed this quite a bit after those last two subpar sketches and it showed off the fact that Taran Killam does a really good and accurate Brad Pitt impression, while Bobby does a decent Jonah Hill.
- Jay Pharoah’s second appearance of the night and both times were pre-taped segments. So far this season, he has been in a live setting ONCE very briefly during the Office Flirt sketch last week.
- Stiller reminded me of that “Do it” character he did back on The Ben Stiller Show.
Rating: *** 1/2

Goodnights

OVERALL: Another very enjoyable show with only a couple of lowpoints and even the worst sketch (the Springsteen bit) wasn’t terrible or anything, just weak. This episode was about on par with last week’s Melissa McCarthy one, although we had a slightly better host then. Stiller certainly more than held his own but he definitely didn’t go all out like the previous host. He was funny throughout the night though and the highlight from him is definitely as Derek Zoolander on Update. And can we please have more segments like the one where Jason sang with the band before commercials? Stuff like that is awesome.

APPEARANCES:

HOST: BEN STILLER – 10 segments (Monologue; Fox & Friends; The Best of Both Worlds; V-Necks; Weekend Update; Halloween Party; Lincoln Financial Group 3; Columbus Day Assblast; Bruce Springsteen: Just The Stories; Tinyballs)

CAMEO: HUGH JACKMAN – 1 segment (The Best of Both Worlds)

FRED ARMISEN – 3 segments (Fox & Friends; Bruce Springsteen: Just The Stories; Tinyballs)
ABBY ELLIOTT – 3 segments (The Best of Both Worlds; Halloween Party; Lincoln Financial Group 3)
BILL HADER – 4 segments (Mitt Romney Press Conference; The Best of Both Worlds; Lincoln Financial Group 2; Weekend Update)
SETH MEYERS – 1 segment (Weekend Update)
BOBBY MOYNIHAN – 7 segments (Mitt Romney Press Conference; Monologue; Fox & Friends; The Best of Both Worlds; V-Necks; Columbus Day Assblast; Tinyballs)
NASIM PEDRAD – 3 segments (Mitt Romney Press Conference; V-Necks; Columbus Day Assblast)
ANDY SAMBERG – 4 segments (Monologue; The Best of Both Worlds; V-Necks; Halloween Party)
JASON SUDEIKIS – 5 segments (Mitt Romney Press Conference; Lincoln Financial Group 1; Fox & Friends; Hank Williams Jr./SNL Band segment; Columbus Day Assblast)
KENAN THOMPSON – 1 segment (Halloween Party)
KRISTEN WIIG – 3 segments (Mitt Romney Press Conference; Weekend Update; Halloween Party)

FEATURING:

VANESSA BAYER – 2 segments (Mitt Romney Press Conference; Fox & Friends)
PAUL BRITTAIN – 4 segments (Mitt Romney Press Conference; Monologue; V-Necks; Tinyballs)
TARAN KILLAM – 5 segments (Mitt Romney Press Conference; Fox & Friends; V-Necks; Halloween Party; Tinyballs)
JAY PHAROAH – 2 segments (Columbus Day Assblast; Tinyballs)

EPISODE MVPs: Bobby Moynihan/Jason Sudeikis